Peyawary, who was flying to Toronto from Winnipeg, tried to take a garment bag containing the gun through domestic screening as a carry-on, RCMP said, adding he was not carrying ammunition and the gun was not loaded.

The Mounties said Wednesday they got a call from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority on Monday at about 4:40 p.m.

"The investigation is definitely ongoing and we have brought in our experts from the [RCMP] national weapons enforcement support team," to investigate along with the RCMP's airport detachment, Seel said.